The Morgan Academy Senators (18-4) volleyball team advanced to the Elite 8 of the AISA State volleyball tournament for the second year in a row, but were unable to advance after a loss to Glenwood in straight sets on Monday night.

“Glenwood has a really good team, and we played a good game,” Morgan head coach Kayla Thacker said. “We lost in three sets, but it was a close game… I think they played one of their better matches tonight. I’m proud of our girls for staying focused the whole time, classy the whole time and showing heart throughout the whole game.”

The loss ended Morgan’s playoff run and the team’s season. After the game, Thacker told her team that sometimes things don’t work out, but that doesn’t mean they should give up.

“I told them that you can work really, really hard at something and in the end still not get what you worked really hard for, but you have to get back up and start over and work that much harder and try again.”

This year, the Senators didn’t get the top-seed, but they still fought their way into the state playoffs.

This past Tuesday, Morgan defeated Lakeside 25-10, 25-20 and 25-16 in the first round of the region tournament.

The win over Lakeside set the team up for a match against Northside at Clarke Prep on this past Thursday, Oct. 12.

Unfortunately, the girls were only able to win one set in their loss to Northside early that afternoon. The final score for that match was 13-25, 25-17, 18-25 and 19-25.

Luckily, that loss didn’t eliminate them from the region tournament or ruin their chances of going to the state playoffs.

Immediately after the loss to Northside, the girls had to play Emmanuel with their season on the line.

The Senators dropped the first set 22-25, but rallied to win the next three sets 27-25, 25-17 and 25-20 to finish the region tournament in third place. That finish was good enough to advance to the state tournament on Monday.

Thacker was impressed this season by how much her team had grown and improved.

“They play as a family. They have each other’s back. They’ve all grown as players and as individuals, and in the end, that’s what really matters,” Thacker said. “It boils down to what we as coaches teach the girls to apply to their lives, and not necessarily just on the court.”